Brown Patch Alert

If you have St. Augustine turf, you are very likely to see brown patch sometime in October – if you’ve not seen it already. The first symptoms are yellowing of blades in reasonably round 18- to 24-inch spots in your lawn. Within 5-7 days, the blades will turn completely brown, and they’ll pull loose from the runners quite easily. You’ll be able to see the decayed portions of the leaf sheaths where they attach to the runners.

Brown patch does not usually prove fatal to our lawns, but it certainly does weaken the grass — enough so that the affected areas become more vulnerable to winter damage in the northern boundaries of St. Augustine’s zone.

Your calls to action: Water only in the early morning. Brown patch spreads when lawns are wet overnight. And, apply a labeled turf fungicide. Talk to your local retail nursery about the ones they sell. Treated at first symptoms of the yellowing leaves, your lawn can be virtually brown-patch free all of the fall.